An open collection of baseball's little-known records and curiosities.

"He would have been among the league leaders in batting average for a majority of the season had he had enough plate appearances." -- 2008 St. Louis Cardinals Media Guide about non-roster invitee Mark Johnson

Sunday, November 1, 2009

60+ Steals of Second Base

Since 1898*, only four players have stolen 100 bases in a season. Maury Wills swiped 104 bags in 1962, Lou Brock took 118 in 1974, and Rickey Henderson and Vince Coleman did it multiple times in the 1980s. Of those four speedsters, only Lou Brock had at least 100 steals of second base in that season. In fact, a stunning 112 of his 118 swipes were of second base.

Below is the leaderboard of the most steals of second base in a season since 1954.

Rank

Name

Year

2B SB

Total SB

1

Lou Brock

1974

112

118

2

Rickey Henderson

1982

94

130

3

Omar Moreno

1980

91

96

4

Maury Wills

1962

86

104

5

Vince Coleman

1987

85

109

Tim Raines

1983

85

90

7

Rickey Henderson

1980

82

100

8

Ron LeFlore

1980

80

97

9

Rickey Henderson

1983

79

108

Willie Wilson

1979

79

83

11

Vince Coleman

1985

78

110

Maury Wills

1965

78

94

13

Vince Coleman

1986

76

107

Rudy Law

1983

76

77

15

Tim Raines

1982

74

78

16

Omar Moreno

1979

73

77

Ron LeFlore

1979

73

78

18

Rickey Henderson

1986

72

87

Lou Brock

1966

72

74

20

Tim Raines

1984

71

75

Dave Collins

1980

71

79

22

Willie Wilson

1980

69

79

23

Rickey Henderson

1985

65

80

Davey Lopes

1975

65

77

25

Eric Davis

1986

64

80

Tim Raines

1985

64

70

27

Tony Womack

1999

63

72

Omar Moreno

1978

63

71

Ron LeFlore

1978

63

68

Lou Brock

1973

63

70

31

Jose Reyes

2007

62

78

Rickey Henderson

1988

62

93

Joe Morgan

1975

62

67

Mickey Rivers

1975

62

70

35

Kenny Lofton

1993

61

70

Joe Morgan

1973

61

67

37

Chone Figgins

2005

60

62

Scott Podsednik

2004

60

70

Brian Hunter

1997

60

74

Tim Raines

1986

60

70

Juan Samuel

1984

60

72

Lonnie Smith

1982

60

68

Tim Raines

1981

60

71

Billy North

1976

60

75

Retrosheet data splitting players' stolen bases out by base only goes back to 1954, so early twentieth-century basestealers like Ty Cobb, Eddie Collins, Clyde Milan, and Bob Bescher are unfortunately ignored. It is likely at least one of them (and/or another player) belongs somewhere on the above list.

* - the modern definition of the stolen base did not come into being until 1898. For more information about the change in definition over time, the wikipedia entry on the stolen base rule's evolution is here.